Astronomers Spot Two Dust Bunnies Hiding in the Early Universe

Christopher Intagliata: This is Scientific American’s 60-Second Science. I’m Christopher Intagliata. If you’ve ever looked up at the Milky Way, you’ve seen what’s known as cosmic dust. Pascal Oesch: When you see this band of the Milky Way, you can see these dark patches. So that’s really just dust that is obscuring the stars behind it. Intagliata: Pascal … Read more

5 Things to Know About The James Webb Space Telescope Before It Launches

The James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful space observatory ever built, is finally set for launch in late December after decades of waiting. An engineering marvel, it will help answer fundamental questions about the Universe, peering back in time 13 billion years. Here are five things to know.   1. Giant gold mirror The telescope’s … Read more

Scientists Observed This Ghostly Galaxy For 40 Hours And Couldn’t Find Any Dark Matter

A new discovery has deepened the mystery of galaxies without dark matter. In a galaxy named AGC 114905, 250 million light-years away, astronomers could find no trace of the mysterious stuff, even after 40 hours of detailed observation and subsequent analysis.   The result, to be published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical … Read more